Blessed Are You…

Psalm 1

As Armenian Christians, the commemoration of Vartanants has an important place in our calendar. We do not commemorate it for the sake of commemoration. We do not commemorate it just for historical reasons. No, we commemorate this event to renew our commitment to God through Jesus Christ.

Vartanants derives its name from the hero of the war Vartan Mamigonian who was the general of the Armenian army facing the Persian Empire in 451 AD. On May 26, 451 AD, 66,000 Armenian soldiers fought the battle of Avarayr, in defense of their Christian faith, for freedom of conscience and the freedom of Armenia. The battle was very challenging because the Armenians were facing the huge army of the Persian Empire. Although we lost the battle and the General Mamigonian, but we won the war. The Persian Empire could not take our faith away from us. In fact, a few years later in 484 AD, we were granted religious freedom through the Treaty of Nvarsag.

Why do we commemorate this event in 2008?

Psalm 1 starts with a very important phrase, “Blessed is the man…” (Blessed: Esher in Hebrew and Makarios in Greek).

What does “blessed” mean?

We hear from some preachers that blessings are related to material prosperity. You keep hearing how God financially blesses the ones who are ready to give to God. Although I believe that God really blesses us financially, according to His will and not according what I give, yet to be blessed by God has a deeper meaning. What does this word mean? (It was used 27 times in the Psalms.)

Jesus used this word, Makarios, when he was teaching to his disciples on the mountain; we call that the Sermon on the Mount. Makarios means “to be content, to be satisfied, to be happy, to be blessed”. One cannot translate this word with one single word.

Jesus gave eight descriptions about those who are blessed. Blessed (makarios) are the poor in spirit, who mourn, who are thirsty for righteousness, pure in heart, the meek, the merciful, and the peacemakers. The last one is “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:10,11).

When I think of Vartan and his friends, I do see that according to the words of Jesus, they were blessed because they were persecuted for Christ’s sake. “Vasen Krisdosi, Vasen hayrenyats,” (for Christ and for the Nation) was their slogan.

Psalm 1 starts with “Blessed is he…” and Psalm 2 ends with “Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:12b). Although the author of these two psalms is not mentioned, but biblical commentaries agree that their style is Davidic.

Psalm 1and 2 prepare us to enter into the book of Psalms. In fact, they set the right tone to follow in rest of the psalms. King David’s world was not different from our world and from the world of Vartan and his friends. We live in a world of suffering, injustice and cruelty. Often things go wrong in our lives and not in the way we want. Psalm 1 describes to us two kinds of people; in fact, we choose to be one or the other.

The first group is the ones who find delight in His Word. They will be blessed. “But his delight is in the law of the LORD” (2). They find pleasure in having a quiet time with the Lord, reading his word, meditating on it and keeping it. The psalmist adds, “…and on his law he meditates day and night” (2). This group is attentive and receptive and the word of God internalize in their heart and mind. This is very important in our Christian growth. Perhaps you have read this Psalm 100 times. Perhaps you are familiar with the words. You could be familiar with many passages from Word of God. But beware; sometimes familiarity with certain scriptures can lead us to a state of mind when we do not hear what the Word of God is saying. Blessed is the one who finds pleasure in HIS WORD.

The second group is the wicked people who arrogantly refuse to listen to God’s Word and disobey Him.

We will continue in English.